paixaorpg | New Hope [Completed]

Entry tags:

New Hope [Completed]

Character(s): Urd, open!
Content: Urd opens up her temporary relief shop to all!
Setting: Across the street from The Cheap Prayer.
Time: Week 24, all day!
Warnings: None.
Note: This log will be done via "party style" threading! Come in and make your own thread to get Urd's attention, or join into someone else's thread. It's all good!

Praetoris was playing dirty. Though Urd put on a casual, unaffected mood on the network, she was just as annoyed and insulted by this new attitude toward the visitors as anyone else. When it came to dressing "inappropriately," the goddess took it to a new level in a way that even modern-minded individuals would deem a little too sexy. She never minded much; she enjoyed finding new and colorful ways to show off both her style and her body. She was a goddess! You had to instill a certain amount of awe in people!

Her favorite tea shop had been adamant in not serving her and as a result, she had broken most of their cups in a fit of frustration. Really, they'd been lucky she hadn't set fire to the whole place! But once her temper had cooled and she had a clear mind, Urd admitted that fighting back had to be done in a better way. A smarter way.

Thankfully, poorer natives of the city weren't so quick to judge them. She'd always had a good relationship with the gypsies, in part due to her continued business with them (she had to get her ingredients for her potions somewhere). It didn't take much to strike a deal with them for her new plan: they'd supply her what she needed and she, in turn, would make sure the majority of the money the visitors had would go to them. Urd didn't need money, of course. Even if she wasn't a divine being, she had a djinn on her side!

Now the goddess floated in a reclined position in the middle of her shop, hands held out in front of her. Rich cloth and strings of beads flew up to the walls and windows, rags wiped the tables and floors on their own and merchandise of nearly every kind arranged themselves onto shelves and tables. She could have done it all by hand, but manual labor did not sit well with Urd.

Out front, a large embroidered banner read, "New Hope."

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"Iroh~!" Urd called, her voice melodic and flirtatious, as per usual. She came around the counter and floated towards him, hair streaming behind her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and smiled brightly. "Just the man I wanted to see. I was hoping you'd stop by. How is the Golden Turtle doing?" She paused for a beat, looking down between them to his feet. "...are you saying they refused a charming man like you just because of your toes? That's ridiculous."

She let go of him and, feet on the ground now, headed back to the counter. "Why don't you pull up a chair and have some tea with me?"

He had not recognized her, and was in fact confused by her ability to float. However, once she turned and called out his name, he instantly recognized her for reasons other than the curves of her body. "Lady Urd?! My goodness, I apologize. I had no idea this was your new place of business," he said in a surprised but happy tone, "But I am happy to see you own this 'New Hope.' It is certainly optimistic!"

Although the offer was overgenerous of her, Iroh could only do so much before refusing a cup of tea with a stunning young woman. "I suppose I should. I have certainly been around tea for a long enough time in the past few days. Besides, how often is a teashop owner offered to be made tea by someone else?"

Upon seating himself in Urd's makeshift office, Iroh began updating her, "Oh, the shop is coming along in its own way. I am merely adding the right feel and emotion to the atmosphere, so I was going to paint the walls. When I came in earlier, there was a sign posted on it of this new rule. It was my own teashop...that was not even open yet!" He rubbed his hand on the side of his face and shook his head. "I do not even understand how they knew."

As Urd listened to Iroh, she set about pouring a jasmine tea into two delicate, polished black cups inlaid with a small golden rune. Rather than sitting on the other side of the counter, she sat on top of it on Iroh's side. "They probably read your posts about your shop on the network," she sighed, handing over a cup. There was none of the usual ritual when Urd prepared the tea, but it was delicious regardless, no doubt a testament to the quality of the tea itself. "This is an incredibly childish maneuver on their part."

She took a slow, appreciative sip, eyes drifting half-way closed. There was a moment of contented silence before she turned to Iroh again, smiling ruefully. "I'll get to the bottom of this, I promise. I just hope in the mean time, your business doesn't end before it begins!"

Iroh admired the beauty of Urd's tea cups, almost feeling jealous if he hadn't found a great collection of his own. He sipped carefully at the tea, finding the tea to be pleasantly warm and delicious. "A wonderful job, Miss Urd!" he sang while holding his cup for a toast, "And the tea tastes fantastic as well."

He enjoyed another sip or two before even the taste was spoiled by the discussion of the Mayor's scare tactics employed against the visitors of Paixao. "I have known some childish decisions made by high authorities. It seems that power not only corrupts but does wonders for keeping one young," he said in a half-joking manner. Iroh patted her hand comfortingly, as though her last remark was a declaration of her own sentiment rather than a mission statement.

"I hope you do not plan on doing this alone. You have a great deal of support around you that I hope you use. And if you come into moments of great strife, I will be happy to help even in the worst of times."

Urd chuckled quietly as Iroh patted his stomach. The old man was incredibly charming and endearing. She almost regretted she hadn't known him in his prime...she had no doubt he'd been a lady-killer. In the most honorable way, of course! His presence had a calming affect on the goddess, a sensation few had been able to stir in her ever passionate blood. Like her sister Belldandy, Iroh made her want to slow down and enjoy small, subtle things...like tea.

"Thank you, Iroh," she said sincerely, placing her tea cup to the side. "As it happens, moments of great strife are my specialty," she added jokingly, eyebrow raised. "But I've made some invaluable allies here in Paixao. With you added among them, I'm not concerned."

Her face grew pensive, her eyes looking as old as Iroh's and perhaps older as she gazed out the windows. "This law is inconvenient, but it's nothing that can't be dealt with. It's where this will lead that I'm worried about. The powers that be want to segregate us, stir up the spark of revolution...or worse, war. We have some volatile visitors in our ranks and I'm worried they'll make things worse." Urd sighed, lifting her tea cup once more and taking a sip.

"How do I protect people from themselves?"

The last question certainly surprised Iroh, as evident by the sudden change in experession and the cooed "huh?" under his breath. He thoughts hard on the question, looking into his cup and hoping to gain an appropriate or at least reasonable answer from his own reflection. He only saw his own rippling face staring blankly back at him.

"I am unsure, Miss Urd," he said, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Urd watched Iroh over the rim of her cup. Chuckling softly, she lowered it and set it aside. "Mm...that's alright. Only the truly wise know you can't know everything, right?" Her smile was dry, the smooth and elegant tone of her voice doing nothing to hide the worry still lingering in her eyes. "Let's see what paint I can find." She slid off the counter with ease, heading towards one of the far shelves where a row of boxes waited.

"I think you're in luck, Iroh," Urd called over her shoulder, a smirk on her lips. "If it's one thing the gypsies had in abundance, it was paint to deface the many pictures of the mayor around town." She bent and rummaged through a box, withdrawing a glass jar of black paint. "For your unwanted sign. What color would you like to paint your walls?"

Urd's comments struck inspiration into Iroh's mind, like a torch being lit just over his head. As she went to go get the paint, he knocked his knuckles on the counter and raised a finger in his typical philosophical style. "And yet, those who question how people protect themselves are wise enough to know the answers are around them." He stood and began thinking aloud and pacing. "I believe we visitors possess one thing that gives us all an advantage: self-preservation. Even the greediest and most selfish beings here will not go as far as to eliminate themselves. It is merely aligning the goals of many to make that determination our strength. The branches of tree along the ground may fail to bear purpose or capacity; but placed together by the builders, they can repel the strongest of floods."

Iroh smiled, knowing he had plowed his way through the mental dam. He took the black paint and smiled even wider, "Oh, the portrait will gain some much needed improvements. As for my walls, I was thinking something warm and something cool to balance. Gold and green work well together, do they not?"

She watched him pace, bemused and amused as he worked out his own philosophies. She turned back to her stock when he mentioned the unlikelihood of the selfish and greedy eliminating themselves. She didn't know how to tell him her thoughts tended toward a specific person who was apparently bent on the path of self-destruction. Yet his final words on the matter gave her some hope.

"An excellent choice," she replied, rummaging once more. "Elegant without being imposing or pretentious. Comforting yet exciting." She withdrew a large bucket of green paint and placed it on the counter. Cracking open its undecorated metal lid, she revealed the jade liquid inside. "Ah! I knew my instincts were right. Green paint!" She replaced the lid and glanced over to the shelves again, frowning. "I don't think I have gold paint, though...ah! This will do."

Urd took a similar bucket down from the shelf and placed it next to the green paint. Opening it revealed a less-than-ideal shade of pale peach. She smiled at Iroh and gave him a wink. "Good thing you have a goddess on your side." She held her hands out over the paint, eyes closed. A slight glow emanated from her, her hair and dress wafting gently in some unfelt breeze. The paint within the bucket swirled as if stirred, slowly glowing brighter and brighter. A few seconds later, the light was gone, the spell completed.

The paint in the bucket was now...brown. Urd blinked a few times, staring uncomprehendingly down at the paint. Bursting into embarrassed laughter, she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Ah ha ha...! Let's, ah, try that again." Once more, she repeated the motions, concentrating a little harder this time.

When the light faded again, the paint was a shimmering shade of soft gold.

Iroh looked and admired the paints, chuckling through the small mishap with the gold bucket. "This is absolutely wonderful!" he said, holding up both buckets by their handles. "What may I do for you in exchange for your kind service? Your good deed should not go unrecognized," he asked while cracked open the lids to look at the vivid shades once more.

Urd flipped her hair off her shoulder, pleased at the praise. "Consider this one on the house. Though, if you really must do something...make sure you turn no one away from your shop. Even the natives who'd easily exile us. If anyone can show this city we mean no harm, it's you."

Iroh bowed his head in graciousness. "Thank you for your kind gift. I assure you, I will follow your advice as closely as possible. The Mayor would be the only one I would consider going against in terms of providing service, but that is only if he were to come to the shop and impose himself on others. Without that rare event, I will enjoy doing what I love most: sharing my love of tea and playing pai sho with whoever wishes to do so."

Urd grinned, pleased but unsurprised by Iroh's noble words. She snapped her fingers and a horde of Mini Urds appeared in a puff of smoke, hovering in the air in front of them. "I'd help you carry the paint, but I can't leave the shop. These Mini Urds will take care of you, though." As she spoke, the tiny versions of the goddess bunched up in groups to carry the buckets, as well as finding brushes of various sizes to add to the load.

The full-sized version moved close to Iroh and planted a peck on his balding head. "Now you should get to painting, mm? I'll be over for tea soon, of course." She turned and moved towards the back of the shop, waving over her shoulder. "Come back again, Iroh~!"

Between the mini-Urds, the hospitality of the full-sized one, and the peck on his head, Iroh simply blushed and found his way through the door.

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New Hope [Completed]

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